Camp Endicott Monument Davisville, RI

The granite block monument in the center originally stood about a quarter of a mile east of its current location. On January 5. 1942. Admiral Ben Moreell, CEC, Chief of the Bureau of Yard and Docks, was given the authority to form Naval Construction Battalions composed of skilled constructions workers who would support the Navy and Marines in remote locations and defend themselves if attacked. The first unit to actually deploy left the United States less than two weeks later for Bora Bora. These fighting construction workers became known as Seabees. On August 11, 1942 Moreell stood beside this stone monument and commissioned the original Seabee training center at Davisville … Camp Endicott. The camp was constructed on 475 acres at the Davisville Advance Base Depot and was named in honor of Rear Admiral Mordecai T. Endicott, the first Civil Engineer Corps Officer to be appointed Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks (1889 to 1907). Moreell was promoted to Vice Admiral in 1944 and in June 1946 he became the first staff corps officer and the first Jewish American to attain 4-star rank in the Navy. More than 258,000 officers and men served in the Seabees during World War II. Camp Endicott trained over 100,000 of them.